Behavioral and Social Sciences
Julia Nolte, PhD (she/her/hers)
Lecturer
Psychology
Tilburg University
Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
Kendra Seaman, PhD (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
Psychology
University of Texas at Dallas
Dallas, Texas, United States
Julia Nolte, PhD (she/her/hers)
Lecturer
Psychology
Tilburg University
Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
Colleen Frank, PhD (she/her/hers)
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Center for Vital Longevity
Center for Vital Longevity, UT Dallas
Dallas, Texas, United States
JoNell Strough, PhD (she/her/hers)
Professor
Psychology
WVU
Morgantown, West Virginia, United States
Yi Lu, M.A. (she/her/hers)
Ph.D. Candidate
Psychology
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York, United States
Tess Wild (she/her/hers)
Graduate Student
Psychology & Human Development
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York, United States
Age differences in many facets of decision making are well-established. However, a growing literature suggests that the occurrence and strength of these age effects are moderated by contextual factors. The individual talks in this symposium exemplify how age differences in decision making vary by domain, affective intensity, and social distance. First, Nolte and Löckenhoff demonstrate age-related increments in the avoidance of health-based and consumer choices, finding that perceived difficulty, but not affective responses to choice, increase avoidance. Frank and Pachur highlight that affective responses to choice differ across contexts: Younger and older adults exhibit “affect gaps” by making less beneficial, more risk-averse choices in “affect-rich” (health-based) versus “affect-poor” (consumer) contexts. Contrasting monetary and temporal outcomes, Strough, Bruine de Bruin, and Parker illustrate that the tendency to continue failing investments is more pronounced after investing money than time. Moreover, older adults’ decreased susceptibility to this “sunk cost bias” is more evident when making choices about their own investments versus others’ investments. Lu and Löckenhoff report age differences in how decision makers discount other’s financial well-being as social distance increases: Older adults’ willingness to share money with others declines more with increasing social distance than is the case for younger adults. Finally, Wild and Löckenhoff demonstrate that across domains, older versus younger decision makers are less willing to consult with distant social partners or experts and consult fewer people fewer times. To identify directions for future research, Seaman will contextualize the five presentations against the extant aging and decision-making literature.
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Julia Nolte, PhD (she/her/hers) – Tilburg University
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Colleen Frank, PhD (she/her/hers) – Center for Vital Longevity, UT Dallas
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: JoNell Strough, PhD (she/her/hers) – WVU
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Yi Lu, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Cornell University
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Tess Wild (she/her/hers) – Cornell University